Month: May 2024

Knob Creek 12 y/o

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Maker: Jim Beam, Clermont, Kentucky, USA (Suntory)

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Style: Rye recipe bourbon.

Age: 12 y/o

Proof: 100 (50% ABV)

Michigan state minimum: $70

Appearance: Dark Copper.

Nose: Charred oak, leather, old wet lumber.

Palate: Brown sugar, acorns, burn. Water brings out a little more complexity, adding eucalyptus and clove.

Finish: Hot and oaky.

Parting words: The standard 9 y/o Knob Creek has been one of my favorite bourbons for many years. I love it because it’s easy to find, high proof, affordable ($37 in Michigan), and mature but not over oaked. To my palate, 6-9 years is peak maturity for most bourbons. Exceptional ones, or ones aged on the ground floor of the rickhouse can go longer, but for most, 6-9 is the sweet spot. Before that, the whiskey can be rough and uncouth. After that, it can become one dimensional and fall into the “beaver bourbon” category, a term I coined to describe bourbons that only a creature accustomed to chewing on trees could enjoy.

Unfortunately, Knob Creek 12 is a product for the beaver market. Oak isn’t the only thing going on here, but it dominates the palate, nose, and finish. I had hoped that a distillery with stocks the size of Beam’s would be able to select a few balanced barrels for this expression, but apparently not. I can’t imagine what the newer 15 and 18 y/o expressions taste like. Even the beavers might object at that point.

If you’re the type who like a woodier bourbon, you might enjoy this, but I did not. The price isn’t too bad, considering what some bourbons at half the age go for the days, but Knob Creek 12 y/o old is still not recommended.

Nathaniel Rose Syrah La Blonde, 2013

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Maker: Nathaniel Rose, Suttons Bay, Michigan, USA

Style: Blend of Syrah (94%) and Viognier (4%).

Place of origin: Chris Glenn Vineyard, Lake Michigan Shore AVA, Michigan, USA

Vintage: 2013

ABV: 12.8%

Sample bottle provided by winemaker Nathaniel Rose, via Marshall Wehr.

Appearance: Dark red.

Nose: Leather, wild raspberry, purple mulberry, blackberry, tarragon.

Palate: Raspberry, mace, tangerine.

Finish: Tart, but with grip.

Parting words: This is the final bottle from Nathaniel Rose that will make an appearance in our 2012 project on aged Michigan wines from the 2012 and 2013 vintages. Thanks again to Nathaniel for the bottle.

Blending Syrah and Viognier may seem strange at first, but it’s actually been done in the Northern Rhone valley for quite some time. It stabilizes the color of the wine through the magic of chemistry, and it has an impact on the taste and smell of it too, of course. Nobody online seems to agree on that impact, though. Based on this wine, I would say it adds an aromatic fruitiness that balances out the classic robust spice of Syrah.

I would not put this on a level with Nathaniel’s other reds, like the Left and Right Bank blends, or his double barrel Syrah. It’s not as complex as those. Nevertheless, it’s a very good wine, and worth seeking out. It’s held up very well, too. Nathaniel Rose Syrah LaBlonde 2013 is recommended!

Pinhook “Bourbon Resolve” (orange wax, 2023)

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Maker: CJS Beverage Corp, New York, New York, USA.

A tall, thin bourbon bottle with orange wax on the neck and the neck and head of a racehorse on the label.

Distilled: Castle & Key, Frankfort, Kentucky, USA.

Aged at Kentucky Artisan, Crestwood, Kentucky, USA.

Style: Rye recipe Kentucky Straight bourbon.

Mashbill: 75% corn, 15% rye, 10% malt.

Age: 3 y/o

Proof: 101.48 (50.74% ABV)

Purchased on sale for $30 at Vine & Table.

Appearance: Light copper.

Nose: Caramel apple, roasted almonds.

Palate: Sweet, and medium bodied. Fruity with green apple, then some berries, then burn. Water tames the burn.

Finish: Minty with a little blackberry.

Parting words: This is the “flagship” Pinhook release. Like every other Pinhook release, this one is paired with a racehorse. This is for marketing, not culinary, purposes. This 2023 release is paired with Bourbon Resolve, a fairly successful stallion born in 2020. So far his best finish was first at Keeneland in April of 2023. He’s earned around $111,000 so far. Pinhook is hardly the first bourbon brand to use horses in its marketing, and I’m sure it won’t be the last, but it’s currently the most specific.

Anyway, enough about the dang horse. The bourbon is only three years old, but, aside from a dimly remembered Willett release, this is probably the best 3 y/o bourbon I’ve ever had. That’s not the highest of praise, but it’s not nothing. It’s fruity, which isn’t something one encounters much in bourbon anymore. It’s best on the rocks, but does fine in an old fashioned, and with a splash of water.

As corny as the horsey gimmick is, I expected to be annoyed by this, but it was actually pretty good for the price. Pinhook Bourbon Resolve/orange wax/flagship/whatever is recommended.

Ben Holladay Bottled in Bond, 6 y/o

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Maker: McCormick, Weston, Missouri, USA.

Style: Bonded rye-recipe straight Missouri bourbon.

Age: 6 y/o (distilled autumn 2016, bottled January 26, 2023)

Warehouse/Floors: See photo below

Proof: 100 (50% ABV)

Michigan State Minimum: $60

Appearance: Medium reddish copper.

Nose: Spicy, with roasted corn, and a bit of caramel.

Palate: Caramel and amaretto chews, rock n rye soda, then cayenne. Water tames the spice and brings the sweet candy flavors to the fore.

Finish: Salted caramel, burn.

Parting words: The bourbon boom has seen a lot of new distilleries appear on the scene, and the last few years have seen the rise of a number of distilleries with promising futures, like (the new) Yellowstone, New Riff, Wilderness Trail, Woodinville, and many others. These folks are putting out great whiskeys right now, and are only getting better.

Something that has also happened is that a few old distilleries around the country have jumped back into the bourbon game, by releasing their own, new products. Ross & Squibb (FKA LDI/MGPI) is one example of that, and McCormick is another. When I first became interested in American Whiskey, I got to know McCormick as the making of Platte Valley corn whiskey, which comes in those distinctive stoneware jugs that used to have a cartoon Hillbilly on them. At 80 proof, it’s a bit weak, but a decent sip on a hot summer Saturday evening.

McCormick saw other distillers getting rich and asked themselves, “Why not us?” They already had the still, the corn, and the warehouses after all. They even found a historical mascot, Ben Holladay, a 19th century transportation mogul (hence the stagecoach) with ties to the distillery for the brand, So they distilled and aged some bourbon and released Ben Holladay Missouri Straight Bourbon Whiskey to the world in spring of 2022.

I had always assumed that Weston must be on the west bank of the Mississippi, just a stone’s throw from the Kentucky border. It’s not. It’s in the opposite part of the state on the northern edge of the Kansas City metro area. That makes it about 600 miles from Bardstown, Kentucky, and about 500 from Owensboro. The town’s population is about 1,700 people, which is not too different when the distillery was founded in 1856.

Missouri Straight Bourbon whiskey has more stringent standards than its Kentucky cousin. It must be made of corn grown in Missouri, and aged in a barrel manufactured in the state as well. That’s in addition to the requirements to mash, ferment, and distill instate.

Anyway, I like Ben Holladay 6 y/o. It’s sweet and spicy and mixes well too. My only complaint is the price. A bourbon from a venerable producer like McCormick shouldn’t be as pricy as a micro-distiller’s. That said, there are younger, less sophisticated bourbons being sold at twice the price right now, so I guess $60 isn’t too bad, but it could still be better.

Anyway, Ben Holladay 6 y/o BiB is recommended!